THX 1138 for the MTV generation

Rating: 8/10 (3 August 2007)

A surprisingly smart thriller from Michael Bay, best known as creator of goofy CG-laden action movies like Armageddon and Pearl Harbour. The setting, story and style borrow liberally from classic sci-fi movies like Blade Runner, THX 1138 and Logan's Run, but its focus on the ethics of cloning and using people custom-made as organ donors is very timely, reflecting the current debate about stem cell research and designer babies.
This being a Michael Bay movie though, it also includes more than its fair share of wild chases and fight scenes, including one of the most impressive freeway chases I've ever seen, and some flinch-inducing shoot-outs in a crowded city with huge chunks of debris raining down all around. A surprising amount of this action was done for real using practical effects and stuntmen instead of falling back on CG, and the results are all the more impressive for it.
The action does threaten to overwhelm the story at times, particularly during the escape from the facility that houses the clones, where for several minutes seemingly every line of dialogue consists of Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson shouting 'run!' at each other. But overall it's a good balance of story and spectacle.
Despite the potentially rather grim subject matter and simple black and white morality (quite literally - the people running and guarding the facility all wear black uniforms, while the clones all wear white jumpsuits), the film also avoids being overly preachy and even manages to throw in a bit of humour, mostly thanks to a fun cameo by the always reliable Steve Buscemi as a sleazy maintenance worker in the facility who befriends Ewan's character.
Given Michael Bay's track record I was a little sceptical about this film going into it, but it turned out to be a real winner.